(3 Minutes Read)
Tanzania continues to drag its feet in geofencing the Arusha-Singida stretch and a road is geofenced when it has inspection points and cargo passing through it can be tracked electronically for taxation and avoidance of dumping of goods
Transporters between Mombasa and Bujumbura are yet to fully utilize the Voi-Taveta/Holili-Arusha-Singida road network, which forms part of the trunk road between the two cities. Tanzania continues to drag its feet in geofencing the Arusha-Singida stretch.
A road is geofenced when it has inspection points and cargo passing through it can be tracked electronically for taxation and avoidance of dumping of goods.Geofencing guards against theft and loss of cargo while in transit.
The highway, covering 1,545km, was completed in 2018 and is meant to reduce the transit distance from Mombasa to Bujumbura on the Northern Corridor by 358 kilometers.
It is part of the East African Community (EAC) Regional Road Network Programme meant to boost cargo through Arusha to other EAC member states in the Great Lakes. Truckers accuse the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) of laxity in geofencing the road, but some observers blame it on the insidious competition for business between Mombasa and Dar es Salaam ports.
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has geofenced the Voi-Taveta side. If the corridor increases efficiency, then importers and exporters in some parts of Tanzania, Burundi, and DRC might prefer Mombasa to Dar es Salaam as their port of choice.
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The ministers recently met in Kenya and, in a joint communique, said they had directed the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA) secretariat to initiate measures towards promoting the use of roads through Tanzania that link Burundi, Rwanda, and DRC through Taveta to the Port of Mombasa to reduce costs of transport and also to increase Mombasa Port throughput. The East African Community Customs Union requires that trucks ferrying imported commodities be tracked using the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System.
